IDC
June 2021
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets.
Excerpt of the report
According to IDC analysis and buyer perception, BCG is positioned in the Leaders category in the worldwide 2021 IDC MarketScape for digital strategy consulting services.
Boston Consulting Group (BCG) has offices in more than 90 cities in 50 countries with more than 22,000 employees worldwide.
The firm has over 7,000 digital experts who combine business acumen, deep industry expertise, analytics, design, and implementation capabilities together to deliver high-impact results.
BCG has been one of the prominent players in enterprise strategy consulting since 1963. BCG’s functional and industry expertise spans across domains such as Strategy; Growth; People and Organization; Marketing, Sales, and Pricing; M&A; Divestitures; Operations; Sustainability; and LargeScale Change and over 20 industries including automotive, mobility, biopharmaceuticals, consumer products, retail, financial institutions, public sector, and technology, media, and telecommunications.
The firm has delivered business model transformation work for over half of its top 100 clients and has helped clients launch over 150 new ventures.
BCG’s multidisciplinary digital teams combine business consultants, industry experts, and partner ecosystems across a diverse spectrum of specializations, including data scientists, engineers, designers, IT architects, and product managers.
These teams work side by side with the client team from day 1 for a seamless transition.
DigitalBCG subsidiaries include:
- BCG GAMMA, which deploys data scientists, technologists, product and software builders, and consultants to conceptualize, build, and deploy advanced data and analytics solutions
- BCG Platinion, where experts in IT architecture, implementation, cybersecurity, and so forth design, build, and implement client-specific resilient products, platforms, and solutions
- BCG Digital Ventures, which brings business builder experts (e.g., entrepreneurs, innovation engineers, human-centric designers, growth architects) to work with organizations to create new market opportunities and uncover new sources of competitive advantage, helping them think and act like venture capitalists
- BCG BrightHouse, which works with organizations to elevate and align cultures, strategies, and brands around their “purpose” to accelerate transformation and value creation.
A sampling of BCG’s proprietary IP assets in digital, technology, and analytics include:
- Catalyst Cloud, a data and artificial intelligence (AI) cloud platform that helps clients analyze and visualize data as well as manage, model, and predict outcomes
- Digital Transformation Tool, which provides data-driven analysis into success factors for digital transformations available by sector and geography
- Digital Acceleration Index (DAI), which offers objective, outside-in benchmarks of an organization’s current digital maturity compared with that of peers, tracking progress and impact along their digital journey
- Key by BCG, which ensures transparency, monitoring, and value delivery for large-scale change programs
- Absorb, an employee-centric change management software that allows for targeted interventions on employee perceptions to drive successful and sustainable transformations
- BCG DAIS, a proprietary AI-enabled platform to create consistent, enterprise-ready applications
- Lighthouse, which improves corporate decision making post-COVID-19 by merging scenario planning capabilities with real-time data and dynamic forecasting models
- RADAR, a rapid assessment of digital and data platform architecture to identify and prioritize tech stack limitations.
BCG has 35+ digital centers globally that offer immersive client experiences including
- DigitalBCG Immersion Centers,
- Innovation Center for Operations (ICOs),
- BCG Digital Ventures Innovation Centers,
- BCG Platinion Design Studios,
- an AWS and BCG Digital Builders Showroom,
- the BCG Tech Hub, and
- Cybersecurity hubs.
BCG hosts several client communities including
- a CEO Forum,
- a CFO Forum,
- the BCG Digital Transformation Network, and
- a Chief Transformation Officer Network;
- around 15 BCG-hosted industry client communities;
- and another 10+ functional-focused client networks including communities around supply chain and procurement.
Thought leadership from BCG includes
- the annual Most Innovative Company Annual Report,
- AI x MIT Annual Report, and
- Digital Acceleration Index Annual Report.
BCG employees have also published numerous articles in publications such as
- the Harvard Business Review and
- MIT Sloan Management Review and on
- LinkedIn and other social platforms,
- as well as several books, including Beyond Great in October 2020.
BCG’s partnership ecosystem includes more than 160 organizations to find collaborative solutions for clients, including
- “Platinum equivalent” alliances with Adobe,
- AWS,
- Microsoft (including Azure),
- Google (including GCP),
- SAP, and
- Salesforce.
BCG focuses on organic growth and makes relatively few acquisitions; however, BCG
- acquired quantLab in October 2020 — a team of quant data scientists dedicated to high standards of analytical and technical skills and business expertise.
- BCG also maintains relationships with Hello Tomorrow, Silicon Foundry, and B Capital.
In the social and environmental space, BCG’s offerings include
- Social Impact and Sustainability consulting,
- Responsible AI consulting,
- CodeCarbon (an open source tool to track and reduce carbon footprints),
- FACET (an open source software library for human-explainable AI),
- OpenSC (a blockchain platform to track environmental and ethical impact of food and products),
- Diversity and Inclusion consulting, and
- Climate and Sustainability consulting.
BCG’s purpose is “to unlock the potential of those who advance the world — this extends to DigitalBCG where the firm works with clients to establish a bold vision, build digital capabilities, and enable new ways of working that power growth, innovation, and resilience and create value that lasts.”
Strengths
On average, the three areas where BCG reference clients commended the firm most highly were for client insight, ability to drive measurable value, and continuously challenging the client.
Comments from BCG clients included:
- “BCG’s understanding of the big picture and the cultural aspects is excellent, their partners’ understanding of us is really good, and their ability to deal with touch points right across the organization was important to our success.”
- “They are amazing at driving real, innovative transformational change; understanding the value chain; identifying opportunities for innovation, quick delivery; and working towards scaling.””
- “What I love about BCG is that they push and challenge us, but they do it knowing what will work and what won’t work and knowing the networks and landscape of people in our organization.”
Challenges
BCG has the opportunity to improve its perception among clients in action orientation and to make further progress in value for fees paid.
Consider BCG When
BCG is a good choice for organizations looking for a consulting partner to help drive major strategic change.
As one BCG client said: “The larger the project, the larger the scale and impact, the more BCG can help. The more board members, the bigger the problem, the better they are.
We’re so proud of our team! Read more about what sets BCG apart here:
About IDC
IDC — The IDC MarketScape mentions our multidisciplinary digital teams which “combine business consultants, industry experts, and partner ecosystems across a diverse spectrum of specializations, including data scientists, engineers, designers, IT architects, product managers, etc.
These teams work side-by-side with the client team from day 1 for a seamless transition.”
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets. IDC helps IT professionals, business executives, and the investment community make factbased decisions on technology purchases and business strategy. More than 1,100 IDC analysts provide global, regional, and local expertise on technology and industry opportunities and trends in over 110 countries worldwide. For 50 years, IDC has provided strategic insights to help our clients achieve their key business objectives. IDC is a subsidiary of IDG, the world’s leading technology media, research, and events company.
